A/N: An unexpected meeting leads Robbie to ask Nick for help in his speciality—lying.
This was a long one to write. It was originally a two-parter, but I figured it would work better as one chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks to Bloodfox22, Declanflannery, Dancou-Maryuu, BeecroftA, TheFireFox123, aomagrat, Wolfx1120, imjustlikehumphery, BoltDMC, Medic 27, MapleHoneySyrup, demongurl111, Mikey2084, Minion Master 1, Robert Escher, side-fish, Movielover, J Shute, InTheLionsDenOnDA, Guest, Zojak, RassyEyefur, D Fox (I appreciate your kind words, I wish I could PM you directly), and Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps for reviewing!
Also, a special thanks to BeecroftA for editing this chapter.
Chapter 21: Little Lies
"Hmph. He's way in over his head." Judy muttered to herself as she fumbled in her pocket for her keys. She unlocked the door to her room, quickly slipping in and shutting it as she heard several loud footsteps coming up the stairs behind her. They didn't sound like Bucky and Pronk, but Judy didn't feel like interacting with the other neighbours in the building at the moment—they tended to be just as nutty as the horned pair, if not more.
I actually agreed to fight Nick? Loser does whatever the winner wants? What have I gotten myself into?
She couldn't say she didn't know what she was potentially getting herself into. Especially since she was the one who proposed it. But it was too late to back out now. Normally, she wouldn't have even entertained the thought of such a dangerous, potentially humiliating bet. She knew full well that failure would mean being subject to a myriad of utterly embarrassing possibilities. Like being asked to wear an elephant costume around town. Or being forced to join the Mystic Springs Club for a yoga session.
But thinking about the potential prize at stake, she knew she had to take this chance. This was insurance. A backup plan, in case she couldn't find Evie Wilde by the time Nick graduated. And finding her was starting to prove more difficult than she had ever anticipated. After a series of school visits, she had tried to look up Evie Wilde in the system again, to find her address at the very least. But it had turned out that the ZPD police system covered not just the city of Zootopia, but the entire surrounding county as well—a few hundred square miles, in fact. That explained why there had been so many Wildes in her initial search. She had assumed that Nick had been born and raised in Zootopia, but now she realized that she couldn't rule out other parts of the state as well.
It wasn't feasible to go through every single Wilde with the first initial 'E', especially when she wasn't even sure that she had the right name to begin with. Nick had seemed so sincere when he told her name was Evie…would he have lied to her?
…Of course he would. She berated herself for even thinking of the question.
That left the fight as her best option. There was no guarantee that Nick would agree to such a demand, but a part of her had faith that he would keep to his word. That being said, she would need to work out the details with him, like where the fight was going to take place, and whether anything like ear-pulling or tail-grabbing would be allowed. But more importantly…
She had to win.
The only problem was the 'winning' part. It wasn't going to be easy. Not with the stakes being this high. It occurred to her—rather belatedly—that she and Nick never actually fought before. Not physically, at least. She'd lost count of how many verbal arguments they'd had ever since they met, and what the current score was between them. Whatever it was, it wouldn't have helped in this case. She had no idea how the fox actually fought. Or any fox, for that matter. In the academy, she'd faced rhinos, elephants, tigers…but never a fox.
"Well, there was Gideon Grey…" she mumbled to herself.
You were eight. That doesn't really count, the voice in her head replied.
She thought about looking up fox fights online, but that probably wasn't going to be too useful. For a moment, she actually entertained the idea of calling Gideon Grey himself, but asking him to fight her out of the blue seemed like an awkward idea at best. And rather insensitive to boot.
Judy paced around what little walking space there was in her room, taking care not to step on Nick's mattress—not before wiping her feet, anyway. She eventually found herself by her desk, absentmindedly pulling the drawer open and glancing inside. It was mostly miscellaneous items likes papers, spare charging cables, her earphones, Nick's notebook, Nick's neckerchief…
She gently pulled out the neckerchief, which was currently wrapped around the photograph of little Junior Ranger Scout Nick. Surprisingly, he had let her hang on to since the day he'd moved in with her.
I wonder if he knows what I'd ask him to do if I win.
Nick was always super sharp. Judy was sure he had a clue. But he'd agreed anyway. Maybe he'd actually believed her when she'd 'promised' not to pursue the issue of his mom any further. Maybe it just hadn't occurred to him before agreeing to the bet. But more likely, he was just that confident that she wouldn't be able to beat him in a fight.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a buzz from her phone. She pulled it out, seeing a soft orange glow coming from her phone's notification light. That was the colour it glowed when there was a reminder that she'd set for herself. She flicked the phone on to see what it was.
"Call home for family birthday wishes"
"Oh, it's that time already?" Judy mused to herself. There was a celebration every month of the year, with the number of siblings that she had. It was also a convenient time to call in to check in on her parents—they tended to worry about her less when they were busy with the celebration preparations.
I guess the fight specifics can wait, she thought, as she punched in the number for home.
Nick yawned, trudging towards the end of the hallway where the stairs were. He ducked past several larger mammals heading in the opposite direction—likely towards the bathroom for their evening shower, considering that most had bath towels slung over their shoulders. Once he reached the stairway, he stepped in, climbing halfway up a flight of stairs before sitting down on one of the steps. He pulled a small packet of biscuits out of his pocket, followed by his phone. He flicked it on and typed in a number as he tore open the biscuit packaging and popped one of the cheesy circular snacks into his mouth. The dial tone droned on for a while, until finally, there was a soft click.
"Hello?"
"Hey Carrots, I'm free to talk now. What's up?" Nick said between chews. "Have you finally realised it's better to just give up on the fight, to spare yourself the embarrassment of losing?"
"You'd so love that, wouldn't you?" Judy's snark came through the phone loud and clear. She was definitely getting better at that; it was probably a consequence of hanging around his snarky self for that long. "…unfortunately for you, I didn't call to surrender. How was your day? I'm guessing you're in bed by now."
"Lobby C stairwell, actually," Nick replied. "The one on the far end from the bunk."
"Why not take the call from your bed?" Judy asked, sounding confused. "I'm sure it would be a lot more comfortable."
"Less people walking by, which is just the way I like it. I'd rather not have people eavesdropping. Much less know that I'm speaking with you. I don't need that kind of attention."
"I'm pretty sure you draw enough attention to yourself without me, Nick." Judy fired back.
"Well, you're not wrong. So why the sudden call? It's rare that you ask to call me instead of messaging me like you usually do. Please don't tell me you're paying a visit again; I don't think my poor little heart could take any more surprises." Nick glanced around, half expecting the shadow of two long ears to be lurking somewhere around.
"It's nothing like that. Today is exactly two months since you joined the academy. I thought I'd call to congratulate you."
"Does this really require congratulations? Or did you think I would have flunked out by now?" Nick chuckled.
"Hey, when I was there, everyone thought I wouldn't last a month, and I almost didn't. But that's not the only reason I called. You know that my family celebrates a lot of birthdays, right?"
"Seems to be a consequence of having a lot of bunnies. I believe you mentioned your family celebrates a whole bunch at one shot each month."
"Yep. I was speaking with my mom earlier today. I also found out that there's one sibling of mine that can't make it for his birthday celebration, since he's in Zootopia on a study exchange right now, and his midterms are coming up soon. Since he doesn't have anyone to celebrate with, I was thinking of celebrating it with him."
"Okay…" Nick popped another biscuit into his mouth. "So why does this involve me again?"
"Well…since he hasn't been in the city for long, I was hoping to give him a nice tour around. Y'know, show him the sights, get him comfortable."
"And let me guess: you want me to tag along to be your dedicated tour guide and get you freebies and discounts." Nick deadpanned.
"Mmm…something like that," Judy replied sheepishly over the phone. "Since I'm planning to enjoy the day out with him, I thought you'd like to do the same. But some freebies wouldn't hurt…"
Nick rolled his eyes. "I should've known. I think I get more than enough Hopps with you as it is, Carrots. And I don't think your brother would appreciate having me around. I'd probably end up being a third wheel while you two go hopping around town—pun intended."
"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that. He's a really sweet bunny. A little shy, but he's pretty good with people. Here, lemme send you a picture of him; his name's Robbie, by the way."
Nick paused mid-chew.
…Robbie?
He immediately pulled his phone away from his ear and held it in front of him as a picture came through. Sure enough, a familiar brown bunny smiled back at him through the screen.
Oh ho ho…now this is starting to get interesting, Nick thought, a grin quickly spreading across his face. Up to that point, he hadn't even considered the possibility, considering that Judy had a few hundred siblings. But thinking about it now, there was really only one bunny Judy could have been referring to—the hints were obvious in hindsight.
And unlike the photo, said bunny likely wouldn't be smiling nearly as much if he were listening to the call. As the implications of Judy's words kicked in, he put the phone back to his ear.
"Well, that's a bunny alright, but I fail to see how a picture can tell me what he's like."
"I guess not…but you still have my word that he's nice. Unlike me, you could probably call him a dumb bunny, and he probably wouldn't mind." Judy paused, before adding: "Please don't, though."
"Now where's the fun in that?" Nick smirked, tossing his empty biscuit wrapper towards the trash can just outside the stairway. It landed perfectly in the centre of the can. "Well, my schedule this weekend is packed, but I'll see if I can pencil you in."
"Didn't you tell me that your schedule this weekend was going to be sleeping the day away and getting me to buy food for you while you complain about how everything aches?"
"Yes, and your outing is threatening to ruin my carefully crafted plan." Nick huffed. "But anyway, if my bones aren't shattered on Saturday, I'll let you know again."
"Great! I'll drop him a message right now to let him know about this weekend. Thanks for agreeing to come along!"
"It's too early to be thanking me, Carrots." Nick smirked to himself. "Anyway, I think I hear someone coming. I'll talk to you again, 'kay?"
"Alright, see ya, Nick!"
Nick ended the call with a tap, before resting his phone on his stomach. He then leaned back against the wall, lifting one leg over the other and resting his paws behind his head, making himself look as relaxed as possible. He waited a couple of minutes, until he could faintly hear the pitter-patter of frantic little feet in the distance.
Panic incoming in three…two…one…
"Niiiicck!" Robbie ran past the stairway, not noticing the fox was there at first. When he did, he skidded to a stop and quickly backtracked, looking like he'd been hyperventilating.
And there it is.
"What is it, Flatfoot?"
"P-phone…my sis…this Saturday…she said…"
"Oh, so she told you already? That was fast. I just told her you were here at the academy and lying to her and everyone else all this time. From your expression, I presume she didn't take it too well."
"You what?!" Robbie gaped.
Nick raised his phone and snapped a picture.
"Ooh, that's a good expression. Probably the best one this month. Relax, Flatfoot, I was kidding. I didn't say anything to her. But I have a feeling I know what this is about."
It took a moment for it to click, but when it did, Robbie's shoulders and ears slumped in relief.
"I'm guessing she told you too…" he mumbled.
"That she wants to meet you this weekend, and now you're scrambling to remember your cover story and somehow bluff your way through an entire birthday?"
Robbie pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning.
"Yes, that about sums it up."
"I'm hurt, Flatfoot." Nick put a paw to his chest in mock indignance. "You never told me your birthday was this Saturday."
"It wasn't really important for you to know," Robbie muttered. "I wanted to tell her I was busy, but I can't keep avoiding my family, or they'll get too suspicious. I have to at least show my face for her."
"If that's the case, then I hope you're ready to spill all the beans." Nick shrugged, quickly uploading Robbie's wide-eyed photo to his cloud backup.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, let's face it, Flatfoot. From what I've seen, you're a terrible liar. Actually, I take that back. What I meant to say was that you can't lie to save your life. It takes one to know one, and me being the perennial lying fox that I am, I know you're not."
"…thanks for the encouragement." Robbie deadpanned.
"Anytime, bud." Nick stood up now, giving him a pat on his shoulder. "So, what are you going to do about it? It's already Wednesday. You've only got three days till you have to see her face to face."
"That's kinda why I was looking for you," Robbie said, gently biting his lip now. He lowered his paw from his face, looking straight at Nick.
"Can you teach me how to lie?"
Nick raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.
"That's a first. So, you're intent on keeping this from her?"
"Honestly, I don't know. But I'd rather have that option, rather than going out there and—"
"—making yourself look like a dumb bunny?" Nick offered.
"…I was going to say 'make myself look like an idiot', but yeah, dumb bunny works too." Robbie sighed, looking down at the ground. "I really need your help."
"Huh, whaddya know, she was right about that." Nick remarked.
"Right about what?"
"Oh nothing." Nick waved his paw dismissively. "Anyway, since you're helping me in defeating her, I suppose I could give you a couple of pointers."
"Really? Oh thank you, thank you!" the bunny put his paws together in gratitude.
"Right…your first lesson: lose the happy face. A big part of lying involves keeping a straight face when you tell your story, and your smile—not to mention your big googly eyes—make it easy to notice when you become uncomfortable."
"Oh, okay…" Robbie's smile slowly vanished, while his ears slowly returned to a relaxed, upright position.
"That's better, but you need to be able to maintain that straight face while telling a flat out lie. Can you do that?"
"Uhh…I guess I could? Like, what kind of lie?"
"Hmm…try saying this." Nick typed a message into his phone and sent it to Robbie. The bunny pulled out his own phone to see what Nick had typed.
"…you can't be serious."
"Of course I am. If you can't even say that, how can you be expected to handle the subtler things?
"Do I really—"
"Yes."
Robbie sighed, looking at the message again. He took a deep breath, before looked at Nick with a straight face.
"I am a little fairy princess who likes to wear vixen's underwear to bed at night."
Robbie was stony-faced. Nick nodded, impressed.
"Not bad, Flatfoot. That's the kind of poker face I'm looking for. Though I think you should have said that a little quieter." He motioned behind Robbie.
The bunny spun, his eyes wide, only to realise that there was no one there.
"…very funny."
"Yup, you need to get rid of that habit of yours. I've noticed that whenever you panic, your eyes always go wide and your ears shoot straight up like rockets. It's not exactly subtle."
"Your eyes also went wide when I mentioned you had a crush on Judy…" Robbie mumbled under his breath.
"And that will never happen again." Nick glared. "I'll admit you caught me off guard there, but that's because you were eavesdropping. If I really wanted to keep it a secret, I could have easily covered my tracks. Which is something you can't do."
"I don't think I'm that bad…"
"Alright then." Nick placed his paws behind his back. "Let's put that to the test right now, shall we?"
He noticed the bunny swallowing, though he was putting on a confident face. It was a good start, he supposed.
"Okay. What do you have in mind?" Robbie asked.
"I presume you have answers to the obvious questions that Carrots will definitely ask, yes? If so, let's pretend I'm your sister. Tell me, how many exams do you have next week?"
It took a second, but it finally seemed to click in Robbie's head. He cleared his throat.
"Three exams."
"What are they?"
"That would be…um…civilian communication—I mean civics. It's one of those electives, you know. About how different civilised tribes communicated with each other in the past. Then there's business management, and statistics."
"How do you find the school? The classes? And the mammals? Ooooh! Tell me everything!" Nick shook his paws excitedly and raised the pitch of his voice to do a mock imitation of Judy.
"You're having way too much fun with this…" Robbie mumbled.
"What was that, little brother?" Nick asked, still imitating Judy's voice. Robbie quickly cleared his throat.
"Ah…the school and classes are okay. Everything is bigger than I'm used to in Bunnyburrow. Like, even climbing onto a chair is a challenge. Guess it's something I have to get used to." Robbie shrugged.
"I see…so what happened to your arm?"
"It's a little embarrassing to say…but I got it while cycling. I was swerving to avoid a pedestrian, and I fell off my bike as a result."
"When?"
"Uhh…last week. Last Sunday, actually."
"You have time to go cycling with your midterms coming up?" Nick pressed.
"I, uh, use my bike to get to class," Robbie stammered.
"On Sunday?"
"W-well, I prefer to study in school. It's easier to study there, and cycling helps to clear my head, you know?"
"And you didn't tell me or any of the family that you got injured?" Nick added a glare now.
Robbie's confident expression almost instantly faltered, but the bunny didn't go completely to pieces this time at least.
"H-hey, it's not like you told the family everything while you were training at the police academy, right?"
Nick cocked his head curiously.
"Why are you comparing yourself with my time in the academy? Of course I wanted to keep my injuries secret, or mom and dad would never have let me live it down. What about you? What do you have to hide, Robbie? Are you hiding something from me?" Nick leaned in towards Robbie with his arms folded, while maintaining his Judy-ish expression to keep the pressure on.
Robbie backed away, and his eyes immediately darted back and forth.
"No, of course not! T-that's not what I meant! I'm not hiding anything, it's just that…"
Nick raised a paw in front of the bunny's face.
"Alright Flatfoot, I think I've heard enough." Nick finally eased his glare, glancing away to give Robbie some breathing room.
"O-oh. So, how was it?"
Nick tapped the side of his head with his paw, making it look like he was thinking.
"Well, there's some good parts, and bad parts. Based on your spirited performance, I'm thinking that if you were to spend the day with Carrots, she'd probably catch on to you in about three hours, tops."
"Yeah…I kinda panicked a little, didn't I?" Robbie replied sheepishly. "So, what's the good parts?"
"That was the good part." Nick deadpanned. Robbie's shoulders slumped.
"…it's that bad?"
"Well, like I said, your performance was very spirited. So much so, that I felt my own spirit about to leave my body. Especially towards the end. Here's a tip: Never say 'I'm not hiding anything'. That's pretty much admitting you do have something to hide. Jeez, don't you watch TV? I thought that would've been obvious…"
Robbie opened his mouth to retort, but he seemed to think better of it and closed it again. Nick allowed a smirk to cross his face, shaking his head.
"Relax. On the day itself, I'll be there with you, and I'll try to stop you from saying anything stupid. But at the very least, you have to pretend that you don't know me. You can do that, can't you?"
From the sheepish grin that was forming on Robbie's face, Nick didn't feel like he wanted to hear the answer to that question.
Oh boy…this is going to be harder than I thought.
Nick couldn't remember how long he'd spent with Robbie inside the deserted stairwell. All he knew was that by the time he'd finished getting the bunny through a course of Lying 101, the lights in the corridors had automatically dimmed for the night, and all of the bunks were dark and quiet. Nick didn't mind too much, considering he was more of a night owl himself. But Robbie was struggling to keep awake; even though the bunny's injured arm kept him from running the obstacle course with the rest of the class, Major Friedkin had made him run laps instead, so he was still as worn out as ever. Even so, the bunny was determined to learn how to lie, even if it meant burning precious midnight oil.
For the next couple of days, Nick tested him whenever he could: during lunch, after dinner, even during training when no one was paying attention to them. When Robbie wasn't practicing with Nick, he was pondering possible questions for Judy to ask and coming up with plausible answers, using 'as much of the truth as possible' as Nick had taught him.
Was I ever that determined when I was his age? Nick wondered. Specifically, when he was trying to hide his less-than-legal life from his mom.
He probably was.
Thursday passed without too much fanfare training-wise, but Friday was a different story. By the time they parted ways on Friday, Nick could barely feel his legs. Unfortunately, that meant that he didn't have much time to practice with Robbie on Friday itself. Robbie did assure him that he was going to be fine, but Nick wasn't quite as sure.
After leaving the academy, the only thing Nick remembered was heading back to Judy's place, chatting with her over a quick dinner, taking a bath, and then heading straight to bed. He couldn't remember if the neighbours were quiet for once, or if he'd actually slept through the noise, but the next time he opened his eyes, morning light was already streaming through the window.
He pushed himself up to a sitting position, and immediately fell back down with a groan, as a lance of pain shot through his torso.
"Oh Nick, you're awake!" Judy's excited voice reached his ears. "How do you feel?"
"I would say I feel dead, but I'm pretty sure that if I were actually dead, there wouldn't be this much pain." Nick grumbled, getting up more slowly this time to minimise the aching.
"Yeah, you looked pretty out of it last night. Circuit training days are usually the roughest."
"Not to mention the million crunches Major Noise Pollution made us do, under the pretext of 'building a strong core'. I'm pretty sure she just enjoys hearing people in pain."
Judy nodded knowingly.
"Well, you're still alive and kicking, at least. Here, I think this will help." She reached over to her desk and handed him a tall paper cup. Nick took it from her, sniffing around the lid. The aroma of coffee was unmistakable. He turned the cup around, and sure enough, printed on the other side of the cup was the logo of the coffee shop next door that he had grown fond of ever since moving into Judy's place. He let a tired smile cross his lips.
"Thanks, Carrots."
"So…bones not broken?"
Nick looked his body over.
"I guess not. Suppose that means I'll be accompanying you on your little adventure today."
"Yay!" Judy clapped her hands together with a grin. Nick wasn't too sure if it was intended to be sarcastic, but her excitement seemed to be genuine, at the very least.
Well, it's not like I was ever not going to come along, he thought. But like he had told Robbie, it was little things like this that helped to avoid raising suspicion.
"So, what's the current arrangement?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck with a yawn.
"I've agreed to meet Robbie on his university grounds. He's going to show us around for a bit. After that, we're thinking of leaving it up to you, actually. When I told him that you might be joining us, he seemed happy to take a recommendation from you on where we spend the afternoon, including for lunch. Don't worry, I'll be paying for all of us."
"Really? So…I was thinking lobster thermidor with pomme fr—"
"Nick!" Judy pushed him playfully.
"What? That is absolutely delicious, I'm telling you. You bunnies don't know what you're missing out on, seriously."
"Sea cockroaches? I'll pass, thank you very much."
"Well if you won't try it, perhaps your brother will." Nick shrugged, getting up from his taking his first swig of morning brew. Instantly he felt more awake.
"Oh please. Robbie's one of the least adventurous of my family; he'd probably be last in line to try that."
"So…you're admitting that you'd be more willing to actually try it?"
Nick took a couple more sips of coffee as the bunny paused, thinking about what she'd just said. When it finally clicked, she let out a humph, tossing Nick's toiletries bag at him, which he caught effortlessly with his free paw.
"Just go wash up. We're supposed to meet him at eleven."
"I'm holding you to that, Carrots." Nick winked at her, leaving his coffee cup on the table and heading towards the door.
After getting dressed and having a leisurely breakfast, the two headed straight for the train station. Robbie's 'school' was a carefully chosen one by Nick, on the edge of Zootopia. The further away it was from Judy's place, the less likely she'd be to randomly drop in for a visit. As a bonus, it was also not too far from the police academy, so Robbie could rush back there if ever the need arose in the future—assuming he was actually able to keep his little secret from his sister.
"You know, I haven't seen Robbie in ages." Judy suddenly spoke up as they walked towards the campus.
"You didn't see him when you went back to Bunnyburrow after the press conference?"
The mention of the conference seemed to make Judy wince, but ever so slightly. She seemed to be dealing with it better now, at least.
"No, I didn't. He was probably busy studying in his room or something; he's the quiet one of my siblings. Well, he's one of them, anyway," she said, thinking out loud.
"I imagine you'd get plenty of quiet bunnies with over three hundred tries. So, how quiet is he?"
"Hmm…" Judy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "When we were kids, I remember he always volunteered for toilet cleaning duty in our family, because no one else wanted it. He probably liked being alone."
Now that explains his strange affinity for cleaning toilets at the academy…Nick thought, resisting the urge to smirk to himself.
"Do you think we could invite him to stay at our place? I would love someone so zealous to spruce up the guys' bathroom. Especially on weekends."
"You can ask him yourself. Wait, I think I see him!"
Nick followed Judy's gaze to a nearby building, with a large sign that indicated it to be the university library. Sure enough, a small brown bunny had just emerged from the front doors, dressed in a simple grey t-shirt and blue jeans, which meant the neoprene brace around his left arm was evident to see.
"Robbie!" Judy stood on her toes, waving her arm excitedly. Not too far away, Robbie's ears perked up at the sound of his name, and he turned to face them. Nick took a slightly deeper breath than usual, and he could've sworn he saw Robbie do the same. As the three of them walked towards each other, said brown bunny made eye contact with Nick, but immediately looked away, right back at his older sister.
So far so good…
"Hi sis. It's good to see you." Robbie smiled warmly as Judy immediately rushed up to give him a hug.
"It's good to see you too, Robbie. Thanks for taking the time to meet us. I'm sure you must be real busy with your midterms coming up."
"How could I say no to seeing you? And…Nick, right?" Robbie said, breaking the hug to look straight at the fox. "Nice to meet you. I'm Robbie."
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Nice to meet you, Flatfoot."
Robbie blinked. Judy rolled her eyes immediately.
"Ignore him, Robbie. He likes to give everyone nicknames. But seriously, Nick? The first thing you go for is 'Flatfoot'?"
"There are only so many original bunny nicknames. Or would you prefer Carrots 2.0.?" Nick shrugged.
"Your nickname is 'Carrots'?" Robbie stifled a giggle. "Anyway, it's alright, sis. I'm fine with him calling me whatever, really. I'm just happy he agreed to bring us around. Thanks for that, Nick."
"You're letting him get away with too much, Robbie…" Judy shook her head.
"No no, please do go on. You see, Carrots, why can't you be more like your brother here? He's a good sport." Nick pointed to Robbie as Judy let out an exasperated sigh. "In any case, the two of you can go ahead just ignore me, alright? I'm just here to be a glorified tour guide. And because Carrots is paying for lunch." Nick motioned towards her with a thumb.
"For once I agree with him," Judy muttered, before turning back to her little brother. "So how's your arm? You told me on Wednesday that you had a fall while cycling." She looked over at Robbie's arm. He raised it, gently rubbing it with his other paw.
"Yeah…not one of my prouder moments. To be fair, I was cycling a little too close to the large mammal lane, so when that elephant zoomed past, I got a little bit too startled, swerved too much."
"Where was that exactly?" Judy asked. "When I do patrols sometimes, I do notice some reckless riding from the larger mammals. I could patrol around there more often, catch a few of them, teach them a lesson or two…"
"Oh no no! It's not a big deal, really." Robbie held up his good paw. "It was over by Rokon Lane, but you don't need to do that. It was my fault—no one was riding recklessly at all."
"Relax, I was kidding. Old me would have done that, but I'd like to say I mellowed out a lot since." Judy smiled. "I don't go looking for trouble when I can help it."
Nick, who was using his phone, started coughing violently from right behind her. From the twitching of her ears, it was pretty clear she'd heard it. Robbie glanced behind at him, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Nick doesn't seem to think so," he said.
"Nick doesn't seem to think, period." Judy grumbled. "But he's going to be making snarky remarks for the rest of the day, so like I said, just ignore him. At this point I've learned to tune out the non-important parts."
"Alright, enough about me." Nick pulled his eyes away from his phone, slipping it into his pocket just as a taxi pulled up beside them, as if on cue. "Ooh, good timing. Well, I was thinking of blindfolding the two of you as a surprise, but I've already used that trick before, so I figure I'd let the two of you see where we're going for yourselves this time." He opened the rear door of the cab, motioning for the two of them to enter.
"Nick…where are we going?" Judy asked.
"Why, lunch of course." Nick grinned.
"But don't you want to walk around the campus first?"
"What, and miss showing your brother the sights of this beautiful city? You've seen one campus, you've seen 'em all. Now c'mon, the meter's running." He motioned to them once more.
The two siblings exchanged curious looks, before they both nodded and climbed into the back of the vehicle. Nick followed suit into the front seat beside the driver. The moment he closed the door, the cab sped off—as fast as it could in city traffic, anyway. Saturday afternoon traffic in the city was often a hectic affair, and that day was no exception. The cab snaked through several busy roads, expertly weaving through a multitude of fast-moving vehicles, in contrast to the slow-paced classical music that was playing in the cabin.
As expected, it wasn't long before Judy turned to Robbie, immediately launching into her slew of questions: what he was studying; what he thought of Zootopia; whether he'd made any friends since coming here…
Did you really think he wouldn't be able to make friends? Nick thought to himself with an inward chuckle. In any case, everything seemed to be going as planned so far. With the way they were seated, Nick could easily listen in, and 'conveniently' interrupt Judy if Robbie were to make a slip up.
Thankfully though, it seemed that the younger bunny was handling the questions with relative comfort. Still, he did seem to employ Nick's strategy of being distracted by the sights outside the cab in order to buy time to think of an answer a little too much for his liking. Judy didn't seem to be bothered or suspicious though, so Nick guessed it didn't matter too much.
After snaking through several busy roads, the car made a left exit, passing a couple of roundabouts. After about twenty minutes, the tall buildings and concrete walls gave way to more green vegetation—mainly palm trees.
"Hmm…I don't think I've been around here before." Judy remarked, looking out the window at the surroundings.
"This is a more roundabout way to get to where we're going, but it's less jammed. Ends up saving about ten minutes of waiting," Nick replied.
A few minutes and several hundred trees later, the green atmosphere suddenly gave way to a huge explosion of colour and lights. The first thing that came into view was a giant Ferris wheel, followed by a couple of roller coasters, a drop tower, and a pendulum ride. Although he was sitting in front, he could almost feel the two bunnies' eyes widening behind him. He knew Judy had never been here, though she'd spoken of wanting to visit often. It made selecting the afternoon entertainment a no-brainer.
"Welcome to Clawney Island," Nick announced. "We're getting off here; it's easier to just walk the rest of the way."
He handed several bills to the driver, before opening the car door. Immediately, the sounds of cheers and screams filled the taxi, almost drowning out the music in the cabin. As Nick got out, the two bunnies followed suit, both of their ears twitching left and right with the cacophony of sounds in the air. He could see the pure, childlike excitement in both of their eyes. He chuckled to himself; he felt like a father bringing his two young kits to the local fair. After giving them a few seconds to admire the view, he cleared his throat, making them both turn towards him.
"As you can see, this place is always packed on Saturdays. But that's why I brought these." He handed a couple of small adjustable wristbands to them.
"Nick, are these…annual passes?" Judy asked in disbelief.
"That they are. But don't get too excited; even with the express lane, the lines for the rides still move way too slowly. I blame the tourists. Oh, and it's probably best if you don't ask where the passes came from."
Judy raised an eyebrow wordlessly. Nick shrugged.
"Relax, it's legal. Mostly."
Now it was Robbie's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Legal? What do you mean—"
"—Well I'm starving. Who's up for lunch?" Nick interrupted, motioning to the crowd of mammals who were flocking towards the carnival entrance and immediately following them.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Judy rolling her eyes, before giving Robbie a "I'll explain later" look.
I wonder if she'll actually try to explain that one to him…Nick mused.
The lunch destination was more of a sheltered area that carnival-goers could sit at to eat the food they had purchased from the various food stalls littered throughout the island. With the place as busy as it was, it took a while before they were finally able to find an empty table.
"Wow, this place is incredible." Robbie commented as they sat down. "I've never seen so much food in one place in my life. I think I saw like, six different popcorn stalls on the way here."
"And yet they are all somehow still in business. It tells you how overpriced things are around here. But don't worry, that's why your sister is paying for lunch." Nick motioned behind him.
"Some of the food looks pretty expensive, though…" Robbie said, glancing over at some of the nearby stalls. Judy sat down next to him.
"It's a rare occasion that I see my family outside of Bunnyburrow, so I don't mind treating us a little." Judy smiled. "Order anything you want, Robbie."
Nick raised a finger.
"…I'm still not trying lobster, Nick." Judy added quickly.
"Bah, you're no fun."
In the end, Nick and Judy both settled for a veggie tempura bento set, while Robbie decided to go with a tofu burger with fries on the side. The rest of lunch went smoothly, with the two siblings maintaining small talk between chews while the rest of the carnival buzzed around them. As they were finishing their meal, Judy excused herself to head to the washroom. As she disappeared around the corner, Robbie looked at Nick, exhaling in relief.
"I think she's buying it so far," he whispered.
"Surprisingly so, considering you looked like you had the attention span of a goldfish back in the cab." Nick smirked. "But don't worry, you're doing fine."
"Thanks for everything, Nick. I still feel bad for making you come all the way out here on your day off. Actually…do you think I can go on my own after this? You should go home, get some rest."
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"You sure you can handle her yourself?"
Robbie thought about it for a moment, before nodding confidently. "I'm sure."
"Well, me leaving would probably raise some suspicions, so that may not be the best idea. But let's try this…" Nick glanced up, seeing a pair of long ears emerging from the ladies' bathroom and heading back towards the table. He waited till Judy sat back down before clearing his throat.
"Alright, lunch is over, which means my work is done here. The two of you should get going; you won't be getting on any rides standing around here."
"Wait, aren't you coming with us?" Judy asked.
"Nah. I don't think you need me to tell you how to enjoy yourselves here." He got up from his seat. "Besides, I don't think I'm up to having to walk around for much longer or having my body thrown around on the rides. The two of you can go. If you need me, I'll be lounging on the sofas at the air-conditioned bingo shack. Please don't need me." He added at the end.
"Ah, right. Police academy training." Judy clarified to Robbie. "It's pretty intense, so I can understand that. We'll come find you later then, Nick. We can bring snacks."
"Now you're speaking my language. Popcorn and a watermelon slushie would do it. Now run along, kids, and leave the old fox to his nap."
Robbie nudged his sister. She nodded, giving Nick a wave, before the two of them left together. Once they were out of sight, Nick exhaled softly. A nap on a couch out of the sun definitely sounded like what he needed for his aching bones, but he wondered if he was actually going to get it. A part of him was still a little worried; he wasn't the only one who was exhausted by the training over the last few days.
Can he really handle her by himself?
Either way, he would probably find out before the day ended.
The carnival was packed with mammals of all sizes. As it was with most of Zootopia, Clawney Island itself was designed to accommodate everyone, from large elephants to tiny mice. Besides the common alleys that most mammals could walk through—mostly for carnival fare—there were specific areas that catered to animals of varying sizes. Two bunnies were currently walking along one such alley, passing by other smaller mammals like sheep, otters, and beavers.
Judy glanced over to her side at her younger brother. Even though Robbie was more or less the same height as her, he tended to look rather small; perhaps that was just his shy personality reflecting through his body language.
"So, you enjoying yourself so far?"
The brown-furred bunny looked up from his cotton candy, seeming to have been snapped out of his thoughts.
"Definitely. Carrot Days Festival back home has nothing on this. Everything here is just so much…"
"Bigger?" Judy offered.
"Pretty much." Robbie took the last bite out of his cotton candy, before tossing the empty stick into a nearby trash can with his bad arm. Doing so made him wince, which didn't go unnoticed by Judy.
"Is your arm okay? I saw you hit it against the roller coaster bars earlier."
"Ah…yeah, that hurt a little. I'll be okay though."
"Alright, no more rides. Let's do something else, alright? Oh, what about those?" Judy pointed to a row of colourful booths, each with a multitude of soft toys and other miscellaneous prizes hanging attractively both inside and outside the booth.
"Carnie games? Aren't those like, completely rigged?" Robbie asked.
"Huh, funny, that's exactly what Nick tells me all the time." Judy remarked. Robbie coughed a little.
"O-oh, is that so?"
"Yeah, Nick is pretty familiar with them. He worked plenty of these booths when he was younger. How about the ring toss?" Judy said, started walking over to the booth at the far end. "I'm sure you could do that with one arm."
Robbie didn't object, following her towards the booth.
"I'm kinda terrible at this one, though. I can never seem to get it right."
"Actually, Nick shared with me the trick to this game. Some carnie games are almost unwinnable, like the air rifle one over there. Most of the booths give you faulty rifles or put extra support behind the cans so you can't knock all of them over at once. But the ring toss doesn't have too much going against the crowd, unless they try tilting the bottles to make it harder to land the rings. The bottles look pretty upright here though."
"Does that mean Nick used to rig these games too?" Robbie asked with a chuckle.
"Pretty much. He taught me how to throw the rings when he was over at my place once. I'm still not as good as him, but I think I can give it a try."
"Y'know sis, I've never seen you so…not uptight around a fox before. You seem to be pretty comfortable around him," Robbie remarked. "Are you two close?"
"Heh, we have known each other for quite a while now, and we've been through a lot together. He's a really good friend." Judy replied.
"Which explains why you put up with his jokes." Robbie smiled.
"Yes, well, Nick is pretty rough around the edges, but once you get to know him, he's actually a really sweet guy."
"Is that so?" Robbie said, seeming deep in thought. "I never thought you would've been close friends with a fox after what happened with Gideon Grey…"
"You still remember that?" Judy laughed. "Well, people change. Gideon changed, and I'd say I did as well. For me, a lot of that was because of Nick."
"You changed because of him?" Robbie asked curiously, as Judy stepped up to the booth and waved a couple of bucks at the kudu manning the station. The kudu took the notes and handed them a basket of rings in exchange, before leaving to attend to other carnival-goers on the other side of the booth.
"Mm-hm. When I first got to know him, I'd already made up my mind that he was just an arrogant, no-good confox. But during the Nighthowler investigation, he made me realise that I was the arrogant one. When no one else in the ZPD believed me and the Chief told me to turn in my badge, Nick stood up for me, when no one else would. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now—literally. I owe him a lot. That's why the least I could do to repay him was to give him a chance."
Robbie picked a ring up, thinking to himself for a moment.
"Is that why he's in the police academy?"
Judy smiled. "You're sharp as always, Robbie. Nick had a tough life growing up; a lot of people weren't willing to give him chances just because he was a fox. That's why I asked him whether he would join the ZPD, as my partner."
"That sounds just like you, sis." Robbie smiled. "He must have been really happy to get that offer."
Yes, he was, until I messed it all up during that press conference, Judy thought. She decided not to mention that particular bit to him.
"Well, he didn't accept immediately. Even though he had a hard life, he managed to make a pretty good living out of it, and it took him a lot to get there. It wasn't easy for him to give it all up to try and become a cop. But he still did, and I'm grateful for that."
"Wow. He must really trust you to do that." Robbie remarked, tossing a ring forward. It bounced off the nearest bottle and went clattering to the floor. "…Maybe that's because you changed him, too."
Judy held a ring in her paw, seeing her reflection repeated in the various glass bottles ahead of her,
"…I'd like to think I did." She smiled softly.
The rest of the day passed like a breeze. Before Judy knew it, the sky had already started to turn orange, and she found herself walking slowly beside her little brother along one of the main alleys, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds. He was currently turning a silver keychain over in his paws, letting the evening light reflect off the shiny metal.
"I can't believe you actually won something from those booths. And with only paying ten bucks, too. That's really impressive."
"I'm pretty sure Nick would have gotten it for half that amount. But thanks for the compliment." Judy smiled.
"Why did you choose this mouse keychain, anyway?" Robbie asked curiously.
"Oh, that's supposed to be The Great Mouse Detective. I think he suits you."
"…Because I'm quiet as a mouse?" Robbie offered.
"No, because I think you'd make a great detective."
Upon hearing that, the younger bunny laughed out loud.
"Nice joke, Judes. That's the best one today."
Judy paused in her tracks, looking at him with her head tilted, and a smirk on her face. "That wasn't a joke, you know."
Robbie's laughter instantly stopped. "…Wait, what?"
"Mm-hm." Judy nodded. "If you ask me, I think you'd make a pretty good detective. You're an excellent observer, and you're good at reading people and understanding how they feel."
Robbie's surprised expression seemed to give way to a quiet embarrassment. He looked away rather bashfully, rubbing his left arm with his right paw.
"That sounds more like I'd be better off as a therapist. But thanks for the compliment."
"You shouldn't think so lowly of yourself, you know. But anyway, since we're talking about that, I'm just curious: after you finish your studies here, what are you planning to do?"
"Ahh…" Robbie put his paw to his chin, tapping it softly. "To be honest, I haven't really thought about it all that much. Maybe I'll just go back home and become a carrot farmer. You know, per family tradition." He laughed.
"Well, you told me you came to Zootopia because you decided to try stepping out of your comfort zone and try exploring the bigger world out there, right?"
"Well yeah…I did."
"Since you've already come all this way, have you ever considered finding a job here, settling down in Zootopia?"
The question seemed to catch Robbie off guard. His left ear drooped for a moment before shooting back up, and he glanced away for a moment.
"I…I don't know, really. I mean, I did think about it before. About…trying to be something other than a carrot farmer."
"I remember that. When we were growing up, you were one of the few bunnies in the family that didn't try to discourage me from trying to become a cop. You even told me that you thought it was cool. I've never forgotten that."
"I still do." Robbie replied quietly. "You were always the best of us, wanting to make the world a better place. When you became a cop, I was really happy for you. It really inspired me. The truth is…"
He bit his lip, his ears drooping behind his head.
"…That's one of the reasons I came to Zootopia. To try and be like you. Even a little."
"Aww…that's really sweet of you to say that, Robbie. You know…if you want, you could think about becoming a cop yourself. Like I said earlier, I think you'd make a pretty good one. And it would be cool to have another bunny on the force; it does get a little lonely being the only one, you know?" she smiled.
For a moment, Robbie's expression suddenly turned serious. Throughout the whole day so far, he'd been pretty relaxed, but now he seemed to be deeply troubled. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was hesitating for some reason. Eventually, he did find his voice.
"Haha…that's a little bit too adventurous for me, sis. I'm…not you. I'm just me, you know? I haven't even thought about moving to Zootopia, much less about becoming a cop."
"I understand. Anyway, it's okay if you haven't figured what you want to do. To be honest, I was really surprised to hear that you came to Zootopia on an exchange program in the first place. I was a little bit worried you wouldn't be able to cope. But from what I've heard from you today, I think you're doing great."
"Well, that's a little early to say, isn't it? I haven't even gone through my midterms yet. There's still plenty of time for me to fail and drop out." He chuckled, a little wistfully this time.
Ah, is that why he's so worried? Judy thought. It made sense; Robbie was always a cautious, prudent bunny. To be fair, most bunnies were. But she imagined it was tough for him trying to fit in here, with the possibility of failure hanging all around him.
"It doesn't matter," she replied, shrugging.
"It…doesn't?" Robbie did a double take.
"Nope. Just because you do something doesn't mean you'll always succeed at the first try. I mean, I can't remember how many times I've failed while I was in the academy. But no matter how many times I failed…"
"…You tried again." Robbie replied quietly.
"Exactly."
"I don't think I should be comparing my studies to your time in the academy. Trying to become a cop is infinitely harder than what I'm doing…" he seemed a little crestfallen all of a sudden.
Judy placed a paw around his shoulder.
"Don't say things like that. Everyone is good at something, in their own way. We all have our own flaws, and our own problems. It doesn't mean that your problems are smaller than mine just because you're not going through police academy training."
Robbie didn't reply, instead just listening in silence.
Judy continued: "I know things can be really difficult for you right now, in this whole new place, and with all these new people. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you, Robbie. Whether you ever need help with anything, or even just as someone to talk to about whatever." She gently squeezed his shoulder.
Robbie turned to face her, looking straight into her eyes for a couple of seconds. A smile began to form across his face, and he reached in to give her a soft hug.
"…Thanks, sis."
"So, did you two enjoy yourselves?" Nick yawned, stretching his arms up into the air.
"We did. Did you have a good nap?" Robbie asked in return.
"It was pretty good. The sound of people losing money is practically a lullaby for me. Anyway, Carrots looks pretty chipper, so I presume everything went well."
"…well, it was. Until now," she grumbled. Robbie's eyes went a little wide, though thankfully, Judy wasn't looking at him.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"Some trouble at the precinct. The officer on night duty had an emergency to handle and can't come in, so they can't do a proper handover right now."
In the corner of his eye, Nick saw Robbie quietly exhaling in relief.
"And let me guess, you're the backup officer on duty?" Nick asked.
"Actually no, but the backup officer had an emergency too, so she's asking me to cover for her."
"You could tell them that you're looking after your brother who fell down and injured himself." Nick motioned over to Robbie. "Besides, it's not technically your responsibility, right?"
Judy glanced over at Robbie.
"Well no, but…"
"It's alright sis, I understand. You should go. I'll find my way home from here," Robbie said. "Thanks for today. I had a lot of fun."
"Well, I am going back to the precinct anyway, and I don't have time to take a bus—it took like, half an hour to get here by cab. So why don't you two share a cab with me back to Savannah Central and go home from there?"
Nick and Robbie exchanged glances, and then nodded in agreement.
The ride to Precinct One was a quiet one, especially on Robbie's end; the rabbit didn't say a word for the whole trip. Nick remembered Robbie telling him before that being in crowded places always left him exhausted by the end of the day.
I'm sure he's burnt out now. For more than one reason.
Once they arrived at the police building and got out of the cab, Judy turned to her brother and gave him a quick hug.
"Sorry I have to leave so suddenly, but I had a lot of fun today, too. You'll be here for another few months at least, right? Once your midterms are over, how about another outing?"
"Of course, sis. I'll always have time for you."
"Right, I should get going. Thanks, Nick. I really appreciate your help with today. I owe you one."
"I'll add it to the ever-growing list." He chuckled. "Anyway, I'll walk Flatfoot here to the bus stop so he doesn't get too lost. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, Nick. See you, Robbie! Happy Birthday!" she waved, jogging up the steps towards the ZPD front doors.
Nick and Robbie watched her leave together. Once she was nearly out of sight, Nick looked over at the brown bunny, who was still watching her intently in silence.
"Excellent work, Flatfoot. As far as performances went, that was not a disaster. I wasn't there for most of it, but from what I saw, I would say it was actually pretty good."
Upon hearing Nick's voice, Robbie seemed to deflate like a balloon that had all the air let out of it. His shoulders, head, and ears drooped all at once as he mumbled: "…does it really matter, though?"
"What was that?"
"I lied, Nick. I lied right to her face."
"Yes…that was the entire point of today." Nick replied slowly, wondering if the brown bunny had lost his marbles. "Has the root beer finally gone to your head?"
"I know, I know—I'm really appreciative about that, really. I would never have been able to do this without you. It's just that…" Robbie's jaw clenched.
"Just what?" Nick prompted. Robbie sighed.
"You were right. I really haven't thought this through. She was proud of me, Nick. Proud of me. And when I spoke with her just now…I wanted to tell her everything. But I couldn't. I chickened out. And now she really thinks I'm studying here in Zootopia, and whether I fail the academy or not, she's eventually going to know I lied to her."
He suddenly turned to face Nick, looking the most dejected that Nick had ever seen him.
"And if I fail—and there's a good chance I will—then what, huh? I'd have to go back to the carrot farm. But this time I wouldn't be just another carrot-farming dumb bunny, I'd be a lying carrot-farming dumb bunny, and she would know it. Everyone would know it."
Having said that, Robbie slumped onto a nearby bench, hanging his head in his paws. Nick took a few steps closer to him.
"Uh…you might be overreacting a little, don't you think? No one has to find out. You can always cover your tracks. And even in the worst-case scenario where she does find out, Carrots isn't the type to go around telling everyone about it. And if you make it through the academy, everything will turn out okay, and all that talk today about her being proud of you would still be true, right?"
Robbie was silent.
Nick hesitated now, feeling a mix of déjà vu and awkwardness. He groaned inwardly. He wasn't good at comforting others; this nice-nice-make-everyone-feel-better thing was Carrots' schtick, not his.
Sigh…guess I should try and take a page from her book.
After letting the silence between them sit for a moment, he sat down beside Robbie, leaning forward so he could be at his eye level.
"For the record, Robbie…" Nick continued. The bunny's ears perked up at the mention of his name. "I don't think you'll fail. You've already come so far in the academy, farther than probably any other bunny besides Carrots, I would think."
"It's still only two months…and the only reason I made it this far was because of you…" Robbie mumbled.
"I'm not the one who stayed up late practicing for today despite the training being absolutely ridiculous. You're giving yourself too little credit there. Besides, even if you do fail, I've seen enough of you to know that you can be more than just a carrot-farming bunny."
Ever so slowly, Robbie raised his head from his paws, looking over at Nick with misty eyes.
"You really mean that?"
"Of course I do. If I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't have bothered helping you in the first place. Cheer up, Flatfoot. It's no good to be sad on your birthday. I hear it's bad luck." Nick smirked, placing a paw on Robbie's shoulder.
A small smile finally returned to Robbie's face, and he gently took Nick's paw off his shoulder, grasping it between his two paws and giving it a firm squeeze.
"…Thanks, Nick. I needed that."
"Do you need a hug, too? Your sister tends to need them when she's feeling down." Nick grinned.
"Nah, I'm fine," Robbie replied, looking like he was actually considering it for a moment. "But seriously, Nick—now that I've done all this, what will I do if she finds out? Do you really think she'll forgive me after I lied to her like this?"
Nick hesitated, his eyes leaving Robbie's gaze for a moment, before he turned back and nodded, "I do. Carrots is more understanding than you think, and besides, it's only been a few days. It's not like you lied to her for twenty years."
"I…guess so."
"Don't let it get to you, 'kay? It'll get better, I promise. Once you lie enough for a bit, it gets easier and easier, and soon you'll be doing it without even thinking. Just go home, get some rest, and focus on getting that arm of yours to heal. You can think about what you want to do when you get there."
Robbie nodded, though he still didn't look completely convinced.
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I should just go home and sleep it off. Drink some hot tea or something."
"I find hot cocoa works better for that kind of thing. But yeah, you should probably spend the rest of tomorrow in bed. Anyway, if you want to get back to your dorm from here, you can take the bus from the stop over there." Nick pointed a short distance down the street.
Robbie nodded, gingerly getting to his feet. "I'll see you tomorrow night, then?"
"Yup. See you tomorrow, Flatfoot. Enjoy the rest of your birthday."
"Right…" Robbie replied softly as he began to trudge towards the bus stop that would take him back to his dormitory. He took a few steps, before turning and waving goodbye. Nick chuckled and waved back; the bunny did look a little better, at the very least. Which meant that the mission was a success.
A success? A voice in his head scoffed. You do know what you've gotten him into, right?
"Hey, he's the one who asked for it. It's his choice to lie about it, not mine." Nick shrugged.
You've been there yourself. You of all people should know how this is going to end.
"I do, and like I told him, everything will be fine," Nick snapped back. "And besides…it's different for him."
As Nick turned towards the opposite direction to head back to Judy's apartment, the voice in his head left one last parting shot.
Are you trying to convince Robbie, or yourself?
Nick didn't answer.